Things Oklahoma is famous for (at least in the UK):
1. The Oklahoma Bombing.
2. The musical (though beware: ‘Oklahoma’ is actually the official state song).
3. The Grapes of Wrath (the central characters are ‘Okies’).
4. The Flaming Lips (so I am reliably informed).
5. Absolutely nothing else.
Things Oklahoma is not famous for, but should be:
1. The shopping trolley and the parking meter were invented here.
2. The headquarters of both the American Choral Directors' Association, and the World Organisation of China Painters.
3. The only State Capitol in the USA to have a working oil well in its grounds.
4. Route 66 goes right through the middle (‘Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty…’, as it says in the song).
5. Oklahoma was the only state in the 2008 presidential election where every single county voted for McCain.
6. It only became a State in 1907, 300 years after Virginia (before that, it was merely a ‘territory’).
7. Absolutely no-one famous has come from Oklahoma. The State’s most famous son is Will Rogers, who was an actor, comedian and ‘goodwill ambassador’, whatever that is. The airport here is named after him, but I’d never heard of him before.
8. Wikipedia says that the State Meal is 'fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbecue pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, strawberries, chicken fried steak, pecan pie and black-eyed peas'. I sincerely hope that's not all at the same time.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Frozen fish
It's very cold here at the moment - the temperature's been below freezing for several days. Look at the state of our fishpond! It's only the pump which keeps it from completely freezing over. I am amazed that the fish appear to be OK - I can see them moving about below the ice. But they seem to have completely given up eating the fish food I occasionally throw at them. I'm fully expecting the entire pond to freeze solid before the end of the winter, in which case I suppose the fish will freeze with it...
Monday, December 15, 2008
Luby's
Eating out here is cheap, cheerful and enjoyable. There are fewer 'fine', arty or intimate restaurants, and I particularly miss Indian restaurants (there are some, but they're not as plentiful as in the UK, and not the same). But there are huge numbers of bright, colourful, straightforward establishments, serving bright, colourful, straightforward food - burgers, fried chicken, fish, hot dogs, corn dogs, pretzel dogs, curly fries, ice cream sundaes, hot fruit pies, donuts, soda, coffee. I particularly like Freddie's Frozen Custard - partly for the name, partly for the tiled red and white interior and the strong resemblance to a 1950s diner from a Jack Kerouac novel - the only disappointment is that frozen custard is nothing like proper custard, but quite like Mr Whippy. I also like Sonic, a hamburger joint whose logo appears to be a nuclear missile, which consists of a kitchen surrounded by parking bays, each equipped with a voice intercom system where you order your food and then have it brought to your car by a waitress who is not on roller skates, but should be. Quite stunning.
But the best of all is Luby's. Luby's Cafeteria. It's very hard to describe, but I'll try. The eating area is a vast room framed by big, round-cornered windows, furnished by simple wooden tables, on each of which is placed a salt and pepper set and a bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup. The cheesiest of cheesy music is playing on the sound system. On entry, you take a tray and a white dinner plate divided into three segments, and take it to the serving counter where you select a meat or fish portion, and two sides of your choice (vegetables, potatoes, corn, etc.) You then choose an enormous sweet cake or pudding (cheesecake, lemon meringue pie, chocolate sponge, etc.) and complement your meal with the ubiquitous soda (fizzy drink). You then take your meal to your table of choice, and enjoy, accompanied in the dining area, at least on weekday lunchtimes, by two old men, one distant family, and no-one else. It's like eating in a 1950s motorway service station, or possibly in the canteen of the Isle of Wight ferry, circa 1978 (at which time it would have been the height of sophistication).
Last time I went, I was served by a Mexican gentleman who spoke and understood little English (well, I don't blame him for that - I can't speak Spanish, after all), and a small, grumpy lady well into her 70s who was wearing her hair in a hairnet - something else I haven't seen since 1978. Visitors to Oklahoma City should not pass this experience by.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
'Nothing in between'
I remember once, when I was at a music summer school just after finishing university, I told the tutor that I was interested in studying in America. 'The thing about America', he replied, 'is that you've got the East Coast, and the West Coast ... and there's absolutely nothing in between!'
I know what he meant, but it's a bit hard on Chicago, if nothing else...
I know what he meant, but it's a bit hard on Chicago, if nothing else...
Monday, December 1, 2008
Paytriotism (1)
Patriotism (pronounced ‘paytriotism’) is very important here. It seems to be important to virtually all Americans, but particularly here. Talking down your country, or even suggesting that America might possibly in some way be slightly less than perfect, is simply not done – it’s a social faux pas on roughly the same level as casting aspersions on the sexual promiscuity of someone’s mother. This is in sharp contrast to the UK, where people talk down the country on an almost daily basis.
For example, when I told people about my intention to move to the US (I prefer ‘move’ to ‘emigrate’ – ‘emigrate’ sounds so final), I was surprised by the frequency of a certain kind of reaction, normally delivered with some passion and direct eye contact, mostly from people like tradesmen, taxi drivers, and the bloke who came to pick up my tub of fence spray after buying it on eBay: ‘I don’t blame you mate – this country’s finished’. I had it again only last week, when a taxi driver in Brentwood asked me where I lived, and received the understandably surprising response of Oklahoma City. ‘I don’t blame you mate – this country’s finished.’ ‘But that’s not why I moved!’ I wanted to exclaim. ‘I’m British! I like Britain, with all its faults! It’s my home! America’s got faults too – as well as some great things, of course. It’s not necessarily better or worse – it’s just different!’ In fact, I just said ‘yeah, right’, in a meekly acquiescent tone. I’m not generally one for getting deeply into conversation with taxi drivers.
You would never, ever get that reaction in the US. A few weeks ago, I was in our local supermarket, standing by the cheese counter, when I heard a man nearby say to his colleague: ‘I don’t think I should buy this cheese. It says ‘made in France’. That’s not very paytriotic, is it?’
As with so many things about living here, at first I couldn’t work out why I had a vague sense of unease about all this paytriotism – the stars and stripes in the front yard, the ‘God bless the USA’ bumper stickers, the man in the supermarket with his doubts about French cheese. Maybe it was just my innate British sense of negativity and slight embarrassment about these matters. I mean, what’s so wrong with loving your country? And America is a great country, no doubt about it, notwithstanding the current, and thankfully soon to be ex-, president’s attempts to wreck it (or more accurately, to stand by open-mouthed while those around him did so). After all, it contains people like Noam Chomsky, Elliott Carter, Philip Roth, Chris Rock, and Suzanne Vega. And Barack Obama. It can’t be all bad.
And then I worked it out. And just after I worked it out, I heard Bill Maher – an American comedian whom I greatly admire (and who should be included in the roll call above) - put it more succinctly and pertinently than I could ever do. ‘All those people who say ‘America’s the greatest country in the world!’ How would they know?’ Absolutely! Have they carried out a comparative study? ‘Well, we checked out Finland, but that fell down on the number of moose per acre, so…’
It really is true that many Americans – often the paytriotic ones – have only the very haziest idea of what exists beyond their borders. Only about 25% of Americans have a passport, and many – including wealthy and educated ones – never travel abroad at any point in their lives. And to some extent, I don’t necessarily blame them. America is absolutely huge, and very varied, and has enough in it to keep most people happy for a lifetime – sun-kissed beaches, snowcapped mountains, beautiful lakes and forests, huge deserts, great cities, fine universities, great art, culture, science, business, sport (well, at least some sports). Americans have complete freedom of speech, movement, and religion; there is lots of space for everyone, the cost of living is low, and the standard of living is high. America is the richest country, and has the mightiest military, in the world. Why would you want to go anywhere else? Why do so many people try to get in?
Whereas British people have to travel outside their country to experience at least some of these things, Americans don’t. But the problem is that, by the same token, there’s no particular reason for them to find out about it either, which makes all the stuff about paytriotism sound rather uncontextualised and insular to me.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Travel plans / interview / concert
I'm off back home to the UK on Sunday for a week! Very exciting. I can't wait to catch up with friends and family, as well as do some examining.
Also, one of my letters to schools and universities (see previous posts) has finally produced a result - after I come back I have an interview for a job covering maternity leave for a music teacher at a private Catholic school on the south side of OKC. The age range is kindergarten (yes, kindergarten) to 8th grade (about age 12 I think). I haven't taught at that level for about 10 years (and indeed, I've never taught at the lower end of it at all) but I know when I did, contrary to my expectations, I really enjoyed it. Children of that age are relentlessly enthusiastic, and can be very rewarding to teach. It's ironic in a way that just at the point where the subject matter of education starts to become more rarefied and absorbing, children turn into teenagers, and don't want to know any more. Younger children can be exhausting to teach too - but this position is temporary, for one day a week, and it would certainly be nice to feel professionally involved in the community here, if only in a small way.
And also, last night I went to a concert of student compositions at the university where my wife works. I met and spoke to the professor of composition, who was very pleasant indeed, and seemed open to the idea of me getting involved there - the decision is not his to make, but he told me who to approach. So I'm starting to feel as if my professional focus is shifting a little more from the UK to the US.
Also, one of my letters to schools and universities (see previous posts) has finally produced a result - after I come back I have an interview for a job covering maternity leave for a music teacher at a private Catholic school on the south side of OKC. The age range is kindergarten (yes, kindergarten) to 8th grade (about age 12 I think). I haven't taught at that level for about 10 years (and indeed, I've never taught at the lower end of it at all) but I know when I did, contrary to my expectations, I really enjoyed it. Children of that age are relentlessly enthusiastic, and can be very rewarding to teach. It's ironic in a way that just at the point where the subject matter of education starts to become more rarefied and absorbing, children turn into teenagers, and don't want to know any more. Younger children can be exhausting to teach too - but this position is temporary, for one day a week, and it would certainly be nice to feel professionally involved in the community here, if only in a small way.
And also, last night I went to a concert of student compositions at the university where my wife works. I met and spoke to the professor of composition, who was very pleasant indeed, and seemed open to the idea of me getting involved there - the decision is not his to make, but he told me who to approach. So I'm starting to feel as if my professional focus is shifting a little more from the UK to the US.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Geographic
Which part of the USA is Oklahoma in? It's not really in the Deep South or the Midwest; nor is it part of the Great Plains, or the western mountains and deserts. It's caught between all of them really.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Work (1)
I'm lucky enough to have secured a part-time contract with my previous employer in the UK to do some promotional and consultancy work, and I have been retained by them as an examiner, which means among other things that I'm off to the UK later in the month - which I'm very excited about! Prior to moving here I had worked in quite demanding full-time jobs for over 10 years, so in a way I was looking forward to taking it easy for a while and letting my wife become the main breadwinner (which she seemed perfectly keen to do, although now I don't think she's so sure.) But I had also hoped to pick up whatever work I could here in Oklahoma City. I'm a musician, principally a composer, but also - to a greater or lesser extent - a teacher, conductor, arranger, organist, writer, examiner, and adjudicator. I was looking forward to having a slightly less frenetic life, and to be able to 'pick and choose' a bit more.
In the UK it never seemed to be too hard to pick up such work. Ever since I was a student, I've supplemented my income by doing various musical bits and pieces. But here, so far, despite keeping an eye out for openings, I've drawn a complete blank, and I've been thinking about the reasons for this. It's not, as might be immediately assumed, because Oklahoma City is some kind of redneck cultural backwater. On the contrary, OKC has several universities with thriving music departments, many public and private schools, a professional symphony orchestra and chorus, a professional ballet company, and, as I discussed in a previous post ('Churches', 23 Sept) an enormous number of large, thriving churches, most of which have equally thriving 'music ministries'. So what are the differences?
I think they are as follows. First, OKC is not that large in terms of population, although it seems larger than it is because it's so spread out ('Space', 10 Sept). And it's not like there are lots of satellite suburbs and towns within easy reach - OKC is pretty isolated geographically, at least by UK standards. For example, the one organist job I did see advertised turned out to be 65 miles away - a bit of a hike for $40 on a Sunday morning. So unlike London, where there is loads of stuff going on, there's just not so much here.
Second, there is no shortage of musicians to take on whatever work is available - the university music departments are full of highly qualified people, and the churches are well supplied with organists and choir directors, most of whom I think come from within their own congregations, so are part of the real church 'family' rather then being employed as outsiders. And those musicians which there are often need to do more than one job to get by: for example, most of the players in the OKCP double up as instrumental professors at one or more of the universities.
Third, there is less of a culture of amateur music-making here - people enjoy and appreciate music, but most of it takes place in universities, schools, churches, and the professional ensembles, rather than in the community. Music is something you go to the Civic Centre Music Hall on a Saturday night to experience, so you can drink in the mystic aura of the great virtuoso pianist who's come from New York, and the wonderful maestro with his baton and flowing tailcoat; you don't get out and do it in your spare time (for one thing, people here don't have so much spare time, as they work such long hours and have so little holiday). So there aren't so many openings for people to run amateur choirs and bands, like the fantastic community band I used to conduct in the UK. There is an Oklahoma City Concert Band, but it's conducted by the Assistant Dean of one of the universities (no less), so that's that.
It's all a bit frustrating. Part of me is enjoying having more free time (I'm writing this blog after all), but it's also difficult to adjust to the reality of not being constantly in demand and feeling useful through a busy work environment. As Jim Hacker found in Yes Prime Minister, there's no shortage of things I could be doing, but relatively few things I have to do; so it's sometimes hard to find the self-discipline to get on and do them.
In the UK it never seemed to be too hard to pick up such work. Ever since I was a student, I've supplemented my income by doing various musical bits and pieces. But here, so far, despite keeping an eye out for openings, I've drawn a complete blank, and I've been thinking about the reasons for this. It's not, as might be immediately assumed, because Oklahoma City is some kind of redneck cultural backwater. On the contrary, OKC has several universities with thriving music departments, many public and private schools, a professional symphony orchestra and chorus, a professional ballet company, and, as I discussed in a previous post ('Churches', 23 Sept) an enormous number of large, thriving churches, most of which have equally thriving 'music ministries'. So what are the differences?
I think they are as follows. First, OKC is not that large in terms of population, although it seems larger than it is because it's so spread out ('Space', 10 Sept). And it's not like there are lots of satellite suburbs and towns within easy reach - OKC is pretty isolated geographically, at least by UK standards. For example, the one organist job I did see advertised turned out to be 65 miles away - a bit of a hike for $40 on a Sunday morning. So unlike London, where there is loads of stuff going on, there's just not so much here.
Second, there is no shortage of musicians to take on whatever work is available - the university music departments are full of highly qualified people, and the churches are well supplied with organists and choir directors, most of whom I think come from within their own congregations, so are part of the real church 'family' rather then being employed as outsiders. And those musicians which there are often need to do more than one job to get by: for example, most of the players in the OKCP double up as instrumental professors at one or more of the universities.
Third, there is less of a culture of amateur music-making here - people enjoy and appreciate music, but most of it takes place in universities, schools, churches, and the professional ensembles, rather than in the community. Music is something you go to the Civic Centre Music Hall on a Saturday night to experience, so you can drink in the mystic aura of the great virtuoso pianist who's come from New York, and the wonderful maestro with his baton and flowing tailcoat; you don't get out and do it in your spare time (for one thing, people here don't have so much spare time, as they work such long hours and have so little holiday). So there aren't so many openings for people to run amateur choirs and bands, like the fantastic community band I used to conduct in the UK. There is an Oklahoma City Concert Band, but it's conducted by the Assistant Dean of one of the universities (no less), so that's that.
It's all a bit frustrating. Part of me is enjoying having more free time (I'm writing this blog after all), but it's also difficult to adjust to the reality of not being constantly in demand and feeling useful through a busy work environment. As Jim Hacker found in Yes Prime Minister, there's no shortage of things I could be doing, but relatively few things I have to do; so it's sometimes hard to find the self-discipline to get on and do them.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Making history
I'm wary of compromising political neutrality in the same way that I compromised religious neutrality a few posts ago, but please allow me to state that, as far as I'm concerned, it feels much better to wake up a resident of the USA today than it did yesterday.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Food and drink
Things I am missing:
Marmite (it's obligatory to say that, even though I subvert received wisdom by neither particularly liking or disliking it)
Custard (impossible to find)
Crumpets (ditto)
Crisps ('potato chips') in any flavour apart from plain or sour cream & onion
Pies and pasties, except for 'chicken pot pies' which are not the same
Good quality ready-meals
Supermarket burgers, fishfingers etc. (people here just go to fast food drive-throughs)
Instant noodles
Lamb (hardly eaten here)
The English all-day breakfast, including bacon which doesn't taste of maple
Things I have been pleasantly surprised to find:
Real tea (in the form of PG Tips)
An excellent supply of beer, including Fullers London Pride, Theakston's Old Peculier and many other varieties
Things I am enjoying for the first time*:
'Pudding' (like Angel Delight only with a different texture which is impossible to describe)
An extraordinary array of fruit juices and soft drinks, including cream soda and Hawaiian punch
An equally extraordinary array of cereals, including some which are basically sugar dyed various radioactive colours
A quite incredible array of tinned soups - every conceivable variety, and a few inconceivable ones
Squash (acorn, butternut, spaghetti, yellow and many others)
Snickerdoodle cookies
Tilapia (a ubiquitous kind of white fish)
The whole American breakfast experience: pancakes, maple syrup, bacon, sausage and 'biscuits' (a kind of scone)
*Not really the first time in some cases, as I have visited America many times before!
(NB. Anyone reading the list above would get the impression I eat nothing but processed food. I do eat fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables too, but most of these are the same as back home. Honest.)
Marmite (it's obligatory to say that, even though I subvert received wisdom by neither particularly liking or disliking it)
Custard (impossible to find)
Crumpets (ditto)
Crisps ('potato chips') in any flavour apart from plain or sour cream & onion
Pies and pasties, except for 'chicken pot pies' which are not the same
Good quality ready-meals
Supermarket burgers, fishfingers etc. (people here just go to fast food drive-throughs)
Instant noodles
Lamb (hardly eaten here)
The English all-day breakfast, including bacon which doesn't taste of maple
Things I have been pleasantly surprised to find:
Real tea (in the form of PG Tips)
An excellent supply of beer, including Fullers London Pride, Theakston's Old Peculier and many other varieties
Things I am enjoying for the first time*:
'Pudding' (like Angel Delight only with a different texture which is impossible to describe)
An extraordinary array of fruit juices and soft drinks, including cream soda and Hawaiian punch
An equally extraordinary array of cereals, including some which are basically sugar dyed various radioactive colours
A quite incredible array of tinned soups - every conceivable variety, and a few inconceivable ones
Squash (acorn, butternut, spaghetti, yellow and many others)
Snickerdoodle cookies
Tilapia (a ubiquitous kind of white fish)
The whole American breakfast experience: pancakes, maple syrup, bacon, sausage and 'biscuits' (a kind of scone)
*Not really the first time in some cases, as I have visited America many times before!
(NB. Anyone reading the list above would get the impression I eat nothing but processed food. I do eat fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables too, but most of these are the same as back home. Honest.)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
NPR
I have re-discovered civilisation. NPR (National Public Radio) is almost, but not quite, as good as Radio 4.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Domestic frustrations
Houses here are generally bigger than in the UK. And accordingly - at least if ours is anything to go by - they are also more complex and have more stuff in them. And of course, the more stuff you have, the more it can go wrong. Examples of things which I'm having to deal with for the first time in my life are: a security alarm system, an air conditioning system, a lawn sprinkler system, rotary ceiling fans, hundreds of light bulbs of generally mystifying size, shape and design, electric garage doors, and a garden pond complete with electric pump, filter and goldfish (the goldfish aren't electric, just the pump). At various times, most of these things have stopped working, and I've had to try to work out why, and how to get them started again. My wife is more practically-minded than I am, and usually works out what to do much more quickly and efficiently - or alternatively, just seems to know, by some kind of magical intuition - which makes me end up feeling a bit useless. It's almost like you need to go on a week's intensive training course in order to learn how to live in your house. I'm feeling very nostalgic for my old attic bedsit in West Hampstead, where the most challenging domestic operation was inserting 50p in the meter so I could run the gas fire.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
A foggy day in Oklahoma City
A foggy day in Oklahoma City
Had me low and feeling ... just like the UK in fact.
Had me low and feeling ... just like the UK in fact.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Happy Hallowe'en
Hallowe'en is a big deal here. There are decorations everywhere, and piles of pumpkins outside all the supermarkets.
No doubt it's all a lot of charming, harmless fun. But I can't help noting, if only in passing, the odd lack of synchronicity between, on the one hand, a festival which overtly celebrates paganism, with the use of symbols like witches, ghosts, and the living dead, and, on the other hand, fundamentalist evangelical Christianity. Shome mishtake shurely?
No doubt it's all a lot of charming, harmless fun. But I can't help noting, if only in passing, the odd lack of synchronicity between, on the one hand, a festival which overtly celebrates paganism, with the use of symbols like witches, ghosts, and the living dead, and, on the other hand, fundamentalist evangelical Christianity. Shome mishtake shurely?
Monday, October 13, 2008
Religious clarification
Just to clarify some recent blogs, I'm not anti-Christian. I'm not formally a member of any church, though I have a Christian heritage, and I incline towards the kind of 'progressive Christianity' espoused by people like John Shelby Spong, and which focuses on love, tolerance, understanding, inclusion, and social awareness, and accepts debate, questioning, and doubt as part of any journey of faith. I'm also happy to respect and learn from the strongly-held beliefs and convictions of anyone, so long as they in turn are willing to respect my own viewpoint. I've even read 'The Purpose-Driven Life' from cover to cover.
That's probably enough of religion. Maybe I should talk about something less controversial instead? How about the weather (in time-honoured British tradition)? It's quite cool, grey and cloudy here in Oklahoma City today - the summer must be at an end.
That's probably enough of religion. Maybe I should talk about something less controversial instead? How about the weather (in time-honoured British tradition)? It's quite cool, grey and cloudy here in Oklahoma City today - the summer must be at an end.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Christian schools
OK, this is getting ridiculous. I had heard of the Bible Belt, of course, and thought I understood what that term represented. But I'm starting to feel slightly nauseous from the frankly creepy way in which this simplistic, moralistic, sub-Victorian strand of Christianity appears to seep into every aspect of life here.
Today I went through the listings of private schools in the phone book (I'm not qualified to teach in the public school system) and checked out the websites of many of them, in order to get contact details so I could write offering my services as a musician and teacher. I wasn't surprised that a good proportion of them (well, nearly all of them in fact) were religious-affiliated - I'm well used to that in the UK, and have no problem with it. But the websites were mostly crammed full of quotations from Scripture, references to 'walking with the Lord', 'affecting lives for the Kingdom of God', 'educating the whole person to glorify God' (should that be 'forcing'?) and general insinuations that you had better sign up to their way of thinking, or else.
I'm all for toleration and religious freedom. But the impression I get here is that these people are not. I would have no problem with working in a religious-affiliated school of any description, if I felt that my employers would be willing to respect my own liberal scepticism in the same way that I would be willing to respect their own fervent beliefs. Who knows, we might even both learn from each other. But the impression I get is that that kind of mutual respect isn't really on the cards. Oh well, if any of them respond to my speculative letters, we shall find out!
Today I went through the listings of private schools in the phone book (I'm not qualified to teach in the public school system) and checked out the websites of many of them, in order to get contact details so I could write offering my services as a musician and teacher. I wasn't surprised that a good proportion of them (well, nearly all of them in fact) were religious-affiliated - I'm well used to that in the UK, and have no problem with it. But the websites were mostly crammed full of quotations from Scripture, references to 'walking with the Lord', 'affecting lives for the Kingdom of God', 'educating the whole person to glorify God' (should that be 'forcing'?) and general insinuations that you had better sign up to their way of thinking, or else.
I'm all for toleration and religious freedom. But the impression I get here is that these people are not. I would have no problem with working in a religious-affiliated school of any description, if I felt that my employers would be willing to respect my own liberal scepticism in the same way that I would be willing to respect their own fervent beliefs. Who knows, we might even both learn from each other. But the impression I get is that that kind of mutual respect isn't really on the cards. Oh well, if any of them respond to my speculative letters, we shall find out!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Universities
There are dozens of universities in Oklahoma - I know this because this morning I did a Google trawl looking for people to write to offering my services, such as they are. I drew a line at the Oklahoma Panhandle State University, I'm ashamed to say, though I have written to all four of the Northwestern, Northeastern, Southwestern and Southeastern State Universities, as well as the University of Central Oklahoma, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City University, and quite a few others. Against my better judgment, I also wrote to the Oklahoma Baptist and Oklahoma Wesleyan Universities, despite the fact that the strapline of at least one of them was 'The University where Jesus is Lord' and the faculty profiles of the professors each started with at least half a dozen quotations from Scripture.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Anti-family
It hasn’t escaped my attention that there is an election going on at the moment. It’s all over the news channels, and ‘yard signs’ have sprung up outside many of the nearby houses, professing allegiance to either McCain-Palin or Obama-Biden. I sometimes wonder how this must affect the neighbourly atmosphere when opposing signs are sported by two houses next to each other. There must be a few rictus smiles while the garbage is being taken out.
I could write bucketloads on the differences between American and British politics, but for now I’ll confine myself to one general observation, which is that the major issues which define one half of the political divide from the other seem to be quite different. In the UK, it tends to be economic and social policy (do you tax and spend on public services, or do you reduce taxation and trust personal wealth to create a higher quality of life?) Here, moral issues like abortion, which in the UK would generally be regarded as an interesting side-issue, seem far more central to the debate, and define the ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ agendas.
I occasionally hear liberals accused of being ‘anti-family’. The first time I heard this term, I had to think hard about what it might mean. It strikes me as being essentially meaningless, a bit like being ‘anti-air’ or ‘pro-water’. Families just exist, don’t they? How can you be pro or anti them? Surely one’s relationship with one’s family is an intensely personal matter, something over which one frequently has little control? Some people are no doubt part of a great family, where everyone gets on really well, enjoys spending time together, and supports each other; equally, I’m sure other people, through no fault of their own, don’t get on with their families, or don’t have much of a family, or have dysfunctional families, or have chosen to separate from their families. So what? Aren’t there more important things to consider when choosing the next leader of the free world?
I could write bucketloads on the differences between American and British politics, but for now I’ll confine myself to one general observation, which is that the major issues which define one half of the political divide from the other seem to be quite different. In the UK, it tends to be economic and social policy (do you tax and spend on public services, or do you reduce taxation and trust personal wealth to create a higher quality of life?) Here, moral issues like abortion, which in the UK would generally be regarded as an interesting side-issue, seem far more central to the debate, and define the ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ agendas.
I occasionally hear liberals accused of being ‘anti-family’. The first time I heard this term, I had to think hard about what it might mean. It strikes me as being essentially meaningless, a bit like being ‘anti-air’ or ‘pro-water’. Families just exist, don’t they? How can you be pro or anti them? Surely one’s relationship with one’s family is an intensely personal matter, something over which one frequently has little control? Some people are no doubt part of a great family, where everyone gets on really well, enjoys spending time together, and supports each other; equally, I’m sure other people, through no fault of their own, don’t get on with their families, or don’t have much of a family, or have dysfunctional families, or have chosen to separate from their families. So what? Aren’t there more important things to consider when choosing the next leader of the free world?
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Healthcare
One of the things which most British people know is different about living in the USA is that you have to pay for healthcare. In the UK, everyone who needs it gets free heathcare through the National Health Service (NHS).
Well, it's not quite that simple. For a start, people in Britain do pay for healthcare. Anyone who works, either on an employed or self-employed basis, has to (or is supposed to) pay National Insurance contributions, which go to fund the NHS. The Government, of course, funds the bulk of the NHS, although that money in turn comes from taxation. And many people have to pay one-off charges for certain aspects of NHS treatment, such as prescriptions, although such payments don't generally represent the full cost of the medication. And there are private medical practitioners too, for patients who choose to pay, and who may or may not have private medical insurance. In general, though, it's true that anyone who lives in the UK has the right to walk into a doctor's surgery, clinic or hospital and get free treatment for any genuine medical need. The first point of contact for most people is their GP (general practitioner), and most GP's surgeries are recognisably similar, offering roughly the same kinds of services.
Here, medicine seems to be a completely free and open market. Medical practices take many different forms: doctors can set up their businesses in whatever way they want. It's no different from someone who runs a vacuum cleaner shop or a guttering business. Doctors charge a fee which represents the full, realistic cost of their time, services and expertise, including a profit margin. Most people, of course, can't afford to pay this, so they take out private health insurance with any one of a number of insurance companies. This is very expensive; and then there are additional fees on top. Most of the cost of a visit to a doctor's surgery will be picked up by our insurance; but we have to pay what in the UK would be called a 'premium', and here is rather more cosily called a 'co-payment' (oh, we're paying together! What fun!) of $25. My doctor friends in the UK would probably say that's no bad thing, as it helps to discourage time-wasters, and perhaps they have a point.
My wife (who, for the purposes of this blog, I will refer to as Kathy) recently arranged a first visit to a doctor. Having failed to get a good recommendation through word of mouth, she picked a practice, billed as a 'family doctor', pretty much at random from the list of doctors covered by our insurance, and rang them for an appointment. The next available appointment was about 2 weeks away, which seemed rather a long time, but she took it anyway.
When she arrived, she walked into a room which had young children, toys and noise everywhere, and was decorated with kids' pictures. Don't get me wrong, Kathy's got nothing against children, but she wants a visit to her doctor to feel different from a visit to a primary school. She waited for about half an hour before being called in to see the nurse, and a further 45 minutes before finally getting to see the doctor. Apparently, these kinds of timeframes are normal, because female 'family doctors' routinely get called away to the local hospital to deliver babies (there are no midwives here).
The doctor finally came in. She was wearing lots of pink lipstick and a short skirt. She read out Kathy's name in a sing-song voice, looked at her, and smiled. Kathy was rather hoping for something more along the lines of: 'Good morning, I'm Doctor X.' Kathy told the doctor about some medication she needed. The doctor wrote out a prescription and then got up to leave. Kathy said, 'Excuse me, are you going?' The doctor said 'Yes.' Kathy said, 'but I've got two further issues to discuss with you!' Reluctantly, the doctor turned round and came back to her desk. The appointment lasted about 5 minutes in total, and the whole visit took about an hour and a half.
Kathy went to reception to pay, and said, 'Excuse me, but do you have any doctors who don't have children as patients?' She described the woman behind the desk as 'looking at me as if I was some sort of ogre.'
I decided to cancel my own appointment. I will need to get one medicine on prescription, but it can wait. The other one I take seems to exist in a myriad different forms on the shelves of CVS and Walgreens, so I suppose I'll just buy it over the counter. I've worked out that's why there are so many adverts for medicines on American television - anyone in their right mind will avoid visiting the doctor if they possibly can.
Kathy's looked into some different doctors. A work colleague recommended a doctor who doesn't take any patients under the age of 18. On enquiry, the next available appointment is in November, and in any case this particular doctor moved to California in July. So much for the free market.
Well, it's not quite that simple. For a start, people in Britain do pay for healthcare. Anyone who works, either on an employed or self-employed basis, has to (or is supposed to) pay National Insurance contributions, which go to fund the NHS. The Government, of course, funds the bulk of the NHS, although that money in turn comes from taxation. And many people have to pay one-off charges for certain aspects of NHS treatment, such as prescriptions, although such payments don't generally represent the full cost of the medication. And there are private medical practitioners too, for patients who choose to pay, and who may or may not have private medical insurance. In general, though, it's true that anyone who lives in the UK has the right to walk into a doctor's surgery, clinic or hospital and get free treatment for any genuine medical need. The first point of contact for most people is their GP (general practitioner), and most GP's surgeries are recognisably similar, offering roughly the same kinds of services.
Here, medicine seems to be a completely free and open market. Medical practices take many different forms: doctors can set up their businesses in whatever way they want. It's no different from someone who runs a vacuum cleaner shop or a guttering business. Doctors charge a fee which represents the full, realistic cost of their time, services and expertise, including a profit margin. Most people, of course, can't afford to pay this, so they take out private health insurance with any one of a number of insurance companies. This is very expensive; and then there are additional fees on top. Most of the cost of a visit to a doctor's surgery will be picked up by our insurance; but we have to pay what in the UK would be called a 'premium', and here is rather more cosily called a 'co-payment' (oh, we're paying together! What fun!) of $25. My doctor friends in the UK would probably say that's no bad thing, as it helps to discourage time-wasters, and perhaps they have a point.
My wife (who, for the purposes of this blog, I will refer to as Kathy) recently arranged a first visit to a doctor. Having failed to get a good recommendation through word of mouth, she picked a practice, billed as a 'family doctor', pretty much at random from the list of doctors covered by our insurance, and rang them for an appointment. The next available appointment was about 2 weeks away, which seemed rather a long time, but she took it anyway.
When she arrived, she walked into a room which had young children, toys and noise everywhere, and was decorated with kids' pictures. Don't get me wrong, Kathy's got nothing against children, but she wants a visit to her doctor to feel different from a visit to a primary school. She waited for about half an hour before being called in to see the nurse, and a further 45 minutes before finally getting to see the doctor. Apparently, these kinds of timeframes are normal, because female 'family doctors' routinely get called away to the local hospital to deliver babies (there are no midwives here).
The doctor finally came in. She was wearing lots of pink lipstick and a short skirt. She read out Kathy's name in a sing-song voice, looked at her, and smiled. Kathy was rather hoping for something more along the lines of: 'Good morning, I'm Doctor X.' Kathy told the doctor about some medication she needed. The doctor wrote out a prescription and then got up to leave. Kathy said, 'Excuse me, are you going?' The doctor said 'Yes.' Kathy said, 'but I've got two further issues to discuss with you!' Reluctantly, the doctor turned round and came back to her desk. The appointment lasted about 5 minutes in total, and the whole visit took about an hour and a half.
Kathy went to reception to pay, and said, 'Excuse me, but do you have any doctors who don't have children as patients?' She described the woman behind the desk as 'looking at me as if I was some sort of ogre.'
I decided to cancel my own appointment. I will need to get one medicine on prescription, but it can wait. The other one I take seems to exist in a myriad different forms on the shelves of CVS and Walgreens, so I suppose I'll just buy it over the counter. I've worked out that's why there are so many adverts for medicines on American television - anyone in their right mind will avoid visiting the doctor if they possibly can.
Kathy's looked into some different doctors. A work colleague recommended a doctor who doesn't take any patients under the age of 18. On enquiry, the next available appointment is in November, and in any case this particular doctor moved to California in July. So much for the free market.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Dear Simon (2)
For those of you who may be interested, we still haven't received our goods from the UK. A new truck was apparently dispatched on Monday to rescue the stricken truck, and we were due to receive delivery this morning, but now the driver has been stopped by the police because of a problem with his driving license. He is currently stranded at a weigh station about 500 miles away. I have spent all of today on the phone and email to the company in New York and the company in the UK while they attempted to resolve the problem. Apparently they have sorted the problem with his license and paid an outstanding fine, but the police in New York now have to speak to the police in the state where the truck is to allow him to continue.
To be fair, both companies, particularly the one in the UK, do now seem to be treating the matter as urgent. The odd thing, though, is that the place where the driver says he is now is not on any direct route between the place where the original truck supposedly broke down, and here. The whole thing is very strange. Meanwhile, we last saw our stuff almost 14 weeks ago.
To be fair, both companies, particularly the one in the UK, do now seem to be treating the matter as urgent. The odd thing, though, is that the place where the driver says he is now is not on any direct route between the place where the original truck supposedly broke down, and here. The whole thing is very strange. Meanwhile, we last saw our stuff almost 14 weeks ago.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Churches (1)
There are approximately 3,000 churches in Oklahoma City. I have estimated this from the fact that there are 18 pages of them listed in the Yellow Pages, and on the random page which I selected, there were 168. They include every conceivable denomination, from African Methodist Episcopal (8) to Word of Faith (1). Some of the more colourful options on offer include the Emmanuel Temple of Praise and Deliverance, the Prophetic Armed Word Ministry, God’s Time Tabernacle of Joy and Peace, and Truck Stop Ministries.
This is a very religious place. Churches are everywhere: big, cavernous sheds of buildings, with enormous signs and ample parking. There is certainly no shortage of routes to divine revelation, should one be seeking it.
Of course there are churches which are more recognisable to me too: Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Lutheran. Even the good old C of E gets squeezed in, in the form of Episcopalian churches. I imagine that there is enough variety here to encompass forms of worship and theology with which I might personally feel more at home, although I have a feeling that the majority will specialise in the kind of saccharine, emotive, theatrical displays available on certain network TV channels.
What you do have to remember is that almost everyone you meet will be very religious, and that this will inform their whole outlook on life and the way in which they conduct themselves. Academics, lawyers, mechanics, taxi drivers, the guy who serves you your burger in McDonalds – all will probably be fervent worshippers of one kind or another. To some extent, this probably helps to explain the outgoing friendliness and good-naturedness of most people, and I’m still weighing up whether or not this means I should be more cynical and circumspect about it. Probably not, because I imagine its root is completely genuine. Perhaps miserable buggers like me could even learn something from it. I’m not sure it’s necessary for me to sign up to the New Hope Overcoming Church of the Living God in order to do so, though.
This is a very religious place. Churches are everywhere: big, cavernous sheds of buildings, with enormous signs and ample parking. There is certainly no shortage of routes to divine revelation, should one be seeking it.
Of course there are churches which are more recognisable to me too: Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Lutheran. Even the good old C of E gets squeezed in, in the form of Episcopalian churches. I imagine that there is enough variety here to encompass forms of worship and theology with which I might personally feel more at home, although I have a feeling that the majority will specialise in the kind of saccharine, emotive, theatrical displays available on certain network TV channels.
What you do have to remember is that almost everyone you meet will be very religious, and that this will inform their whole outlook on life and the way in which they conduct themselves. Academics, lawyers, mechanics, taxi drivers, the guy who serves you your burger in McDonalds – all will probably be fervent worshippers of one kind or another. To some extent, this probably helps to explain the outgoing friendliness and good-naturedness of most people, and I’m still weighing up whether or not this means I should be more cynical and circumspect about it. Probably not, because I imagine its root is completely genuine. Perhaps miserable buggers like me could even learn something from it. I’m not sure it’s necessary for me to sign up to the New Hope Overcoming Church of the Living God in order to do so, though.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Shopping tips
Buying something in a shop in OKC will normally involve responding to the following, all delivered in a strong, confident, cheery tone of voice:
‘Hi, how are you today?’
‘Did you find everything you wanted?’
‘That’ll be three dollars fifty cents!’
‘You have a good evening now!’
‘Come back and see us again!’
Buying something in a shop in the UK will normally involve responding to the following, delivered in a monotone murmur:
‘Three fifty please mate.’
‘Hi, how are you today?’
‘Did you find everything you wanted?’
‘That’ll be three dollars fifty cents!’
‘You have a good evening now!’
‘Come back and see us again!’
Buying something in a shop in the UK will normally involve responding to the following, delivered in a monotone murmur:
‘Three fifty please mate.’
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Squirrel
There are lots of squirrels and rabbits here. Here's a picture of a baby squirrel we found on our front driveway. He seemed remarkably unconcerned about our presence. We wondered if he'd fallen out of his nest, or whatever they live in. When we went out to look later, he'd gone. We hope he wasn't carried away by something bigger than him!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friendliness
People here are very friendly, and it's quite normal to strike up an involved conversation, detailing various aspects of your family and career history, with complete strangers. As a typically repressed Englishman who has spent hours studiously avoiding making eye contact with fellow passengers on the Tube, this is both alarming and refreshing.
The best illustration of this I've come across so far is probably the story told to us by Walter, the business manager at the dealership where we bought our car. He moved to OKC from Miami, so clearly this is something which surprises other Americans as much as foreigners like me.
He first visited OKC some years before he moved here, in order to attend his sister's wedding. One evening he and his friends were in a '7-11' convenience store, when a man who they didn't know walked by, and said loudly and cheerily, 'Hi, how ya doin'?' They turned to each other in some surprise, thinking, 'Who is this guy? Do we know him?' They didn't - it was simply a standard Oklahoma greeting.
The best illustration of this I've come across so far is probably the story told to us by Walter, the business manager at the dealership where we bought our car. He moved to OKC from Miami, so clearly this is something which surprises other Americans as much as foreigners like me.
He first visited OKC some years before he moved here, in order to attend his sister's wedding. One evening he and his friends were in a '7-11' convenience store, when a man who they didn't know walked by, and said loudly and cheerily, 'Hi, how ya doin'?' They turned to each other in some surprise, thinking, 'Who is this guy? Do we know him?' They didn't - it was simply a standard Oklahoma greeting.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Green card (1)
Yesterday I received my 'green card'! It's actually cream in colour (though there is some green writing on it). Well, somehow I didn't expect it actually to be green. It gives me the right to permanent residence in the US. Quite a milestone!
To celebrate, I've turned my blog green. If it makes you feel nauseous, let me know, and I'll change it back.
To celebrate, I've turned my blog green. If it makes you feel nauseous, let me know, and I'll change it back.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Vocabulary (1)
I've visited America and Canada many times before, and I'm married to someone who is one-third American, one-third Canadian and one-third British (at least in citizenship if not genealogical terms - in fact on reflection I suppose she would say she was fully all three, rather like the Holy Trinity) so I'm quite used by now to the concept of 'British English' and 'American English' being disarmingly different from each other. Despite this, there are still things which catch me out. I knew, of course, that what I would call a 'pavement' in the UK is called a 'sidewalk' here (where such things exist at all, which is rare). But what I didn't know until about a week ago was that 'pavement' refers here to the actual road which you drive on. So when my driving instructor told me to keep the car on the pavement, it was a little disconcerting.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Accents
Whenever people ask me where I'm from, my standard response is to ask them to guess. Popular choices are Australia, South Africa, and Scotland, in roughly that order. England comes some way behind, but a couple of people have guessed correctly. I have to say that reactions to the realisation that I'm not American, let alone an Okie, have been pretty much uniformly positive. The other day in Hobby Lobby, the checkout girl's face broke into a wide grin as soon as I spoke to her, and she said delightedly, 'Oh! You have an accent!!'
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Dear Simon (1)
[Names of people, places and companies have been changed in order to preserve anonymity. Though I was tempted not to.]
Dear Simon
Following my previous email to you, I finally got through to a member of the office staff at Americal Removals around lunchtime on Friday. She told me that Bob (the only person there who ever seems to know what is going on) was not in the office that day, but she would contact the truck driver and ask him to contact me with an update on his progress. (So obviously they had absolutely no idea where the truck was when I rang). About two hours later, the truck driver did indeed ring me to inform me that the truck had broken down in Kentucky, he would not be moving again until Monday at the earliest and that he would ring me again then.
Kentucky is approximately half way between New York and Oklahoma City. It takes about two days to drive, so why he was only in Kentucky by Friday is anyone's guess. Now, I know that trucks do break down, and we do not hold you directly responsible for that - although I'm sure you can understand that it does not exactly increase our confidence in the whole operation, or in this particular company. What we do feel is that, in this kind of situation, any logistics company worth its salt would arrange for another truck, one which has not broken down, to come and pick up the goods and continue the journey. Plainly this is not going to happen in this case, presumably because it would adversely affect the profit margin of all involved.
It is now over a month since our goods cleared customs in New York. By now, I could have hired a truck myself, driven it to New York, loaded up our goods and driven back to Oklahoma City several times over. It is not rocket science; you simply have to get the stuff from A to B. I am quite amazed at the catalogue of delays, disasters and misinformation which we have had to endure.
I know you will say that this is a different company, one which you have contracted to work for you in the US, and you cannot control what happens. Frankly, I don't think this is good enough. Our contract was with you, for the shipment of our goods from our home in the UK to Oklahoma City, and if you're not going to arrange directly for the entire shipment yourself, it is your responsibility to ensure that any other company involved is competent, efficient, has good customer service, and communicates regularly. This is palpably not the case.
Apparently, when your representative originally came round to talk to my wife and give her a quote, he assured her that we would be able easily to track the progress of our goods at all times. This has not proved to be the case. It has been extremely difficult to track the progess of our goods. None of the companies involved has been in regular contact with us; the onus has always been on us to phone daily to find out what is going on; frequently I cannot get through to people who can help and when I do they often don't know what is going on any more than I do. It is not my job to be contacting the truck driver on his mobile phone to find out where he is; I paid a removals company to do this for me.
At one earlier stage when my wife emailed you to ask for a progress update and to inform you of our new US contact details, you replied telling her not to bother you as you would contact us in due course. You never did so. Clearly, you do not know what is going on, as you had to email me last week to ask whether I had received the goods. It should be you telling me when I am going to receive the goods, not the other way around.
As far as we can work out, there is one truck coming from New York with one driver. How exactly are our goods going to be professionally unloaded and set up in our home – including the packaging being taken away - as we were originally promised? Are removal men going to be contracted? If so, has this been arranged? If not, am I expected to help the truck driver myself?
Moreover, our main concern now, even more than this or the delay, is for the condition of our goods. As you know, these include some very expensive and delicate musical instruments, together with a lot of important papers and books. When you were giving us your quote, my wife made it very clear that she was concerned that our goods would always be held in air-conditioned and/or temperature controlled conditions. It seems to me highly unlikely that this has been the case, although we cannot be sure, and neither I am sure are you, as you don't seem to be sure of anything. As far as I can tell, at this precise moment our goods are sitting on the back of a truck in a garage in Kentucky, and we have no idea about the temperature, conditions, or security - and again, neither I'm sure do you. All I can say is that if it turns out that any of our stuff has been damaged, as we fully expect may now be the case, we will be seeking full compensation through your insurance procedures - something which does not fill us with hope or confidence, as we can only assume it will be as difficult to communicate with you in that matter as it has been up to now.
Please understand that I am trying hard not to be difficult, unreasonable or emotional about this. My own job in the last few years was one in which I had to deal with many complaints from members of the public, so I know what it's like. I know things can go wrong: what I find unacceptable in this case is the total lack of communication; the lack of sufficient apology; and the lack of any sense of urgency or concern on your behalf or anyone else's. You do not seem to understand that moving continents is an incredibly stressful and difficult process, and that the shipment of someone's entire posessions over several thousand miles therefore needs to be handled with enormous sensitivity and care for customer service. The only people who seem to be at all concerned about all this are myself and my wife; no-one in any of the companies we've had to deal with seems remotely bothered. From this, I can only conclude that this sort of situation is quite normal and to be expected; in which case, the very least I can say is that this was not the impression we were given when you were touting for our business.
We will not be using your services again, and we will certainly do all we can to suggest that anyone else we know does not use your company. We are looking into our rights, as customers who paid in full and upfront for a level of service which we have not received, and fully intend to take this matter up with a higher authority such as Trading Standards or whatever body may be appropriate.
best wishes
Andrew
Dear Simon
Following my previous email to you, I finally got through to a member of the office staff at Americal Removals around lunchtime on Friday. She told me that Bob (the only person there who ever seems to know what is going on) was not in the office that day, but she would contact the truck driver and ask him to contact me with an update on his progress. (So obviously they had absolutely no idea where the truck was when I rang). About two hours later, the truck driver did indeed ring me to inform me that the truck had broken down in Kentucky, he would not be moving again until Monday at the earliest and that he would ring me again then.
Kentucky is approximately half way between New York and Oklahoma City. It takes about two days to drive, so why he was only in Kentucky by Friday is anyone's guess. Now, I know that trucks do break down, and we do not hold you directly responsible for that - although I'm sure you can understand that it does not exactly increase our confidence in the whole operation, or in this particular company. What we do feel is that, in this kind of situation, any logistics company worth its salt would arrange for another truck, one which has not broken down, to come and pick up the goods and continue the journey. Plainly this is not going to happen in this case, presumably because it would adversely affect the profit margin of all involved.
It is now over a month since our goods cleared customs in New York. By now, I could have hired a truck myself, driven it to New York, loaded up our goods and driven back to Oklahoma City several times over. It is not rocket science; you simply have to get the stuff from A to B. I am quite amazed at the catalogue of delays, disasters and misinformation which we have had to endure.
I know you will say that this is a different company, one which you have contracted to work for you in the US, and you cannot control what happens. Frankly, I don't think this is good enough. Our contract was with you, for the shipment of our goods from our home in the UK to Oklahoma City, and if you're not going to arrange directly for the entire shipment yourself, it is your responsibility to ensure that any other company involved is competent, efficient, has good customer service, and communicates regularly. This is palpably not the case.
Apparently, when your representative originally came round to talk to my wife and give her a quote, he assured her that we would be able easily to track the progress of our goods at all times. This has not proved to be the case. It has been extremely difficult to track the progess of our goods. None of the companies involved has been in regular contact with us; the onus has always been on us to phone daily to find out what is going on; frequently I cannot get through to people who can help and when I do they often don't know what is going on any more than I do. It is not my job to be contacting the truck driver on his mobile phone to find out where he is; I paid a removals company to do this for me.
At one earlier stage when my wife emailed you to ask for a progress update and to inform you of our new US contact details, you replied telling her not to bother you as you would contact us in due course. You never did so. Clearly, you do not know what is going on, as you had to email me last week to ask whether I had received the goods. It should be you telling me when I am going to receive the goods, not the other way around.
As far as we can work out, there is one truck coming from New York with one driver. How exactly are our goods going to be professionally unloaded and set up in our home – including the packaging being taken away - as we were originally promised? Are removal men going to be contracted? If so, has this been arranged? If not, am I expected to help the truck driver myself?
Moreover, our main concern now, even more than this or the delay, is for the condition of our goods. As you know, these include some very expensive and delicate musical instruments, together with a lot of important papers and books. When you were giving us your quote, my wife made it very clear that she was concerned that our goods would always be held in air-conditioned and/or temperature controlled conditions. It seems to me highly unlikely that this has been the case, although we cannot be sure, and neither I am sure are you, as you don't seem to be sure of anything. As far as I can tell, at this precise moment our goods are sitting on the back of a truck in a garage in Kentucky, and we have no idea about the temperature, conditions, or security - and again, neither I'm sure do you. All I can say is that if it turns out that any of our stuff has been damaged, as we fully expect may now be the case, we will be seeking full compensation through your insurance procedures - something which does not fill us with hope or confidence, as we can only assume it will be as difficult to communicate with you in that matter as it has been up to now.
Please understand that I am trying hard not to be difficult, unreasonable or emotional about this. My own job in the last few years was one in which I had to deal with many complaints from members of the public, so I know what it's like. I know things can go wrong: what I find unacceptable in this case is the total lack of communication; the lack of sufficient apology; and the lack of any sense of urgency or concern on your behalf or anyone else's. You do not seem to understand that moving continents is an incredibly stressful and difficult process, and that the shipment of someone's entire posessions over several thousand miles therefore needs to be handled with enormous sensitivity and care for customer service. The only people who seem to be at all concerned about all this are myself and my wife; no-one in any of the companies we've had to deal with seems remotely bothered. From this, I can only conclude that this sort of situation is quite normal and to be expected; in which case, the very least I can say is that this was not the impression we were given when you were touting for our business.
We will not be using your services again, and we will certainly do all we can to suggest that anyone else we know does not use your company. We are looking into our rights, as customers who paid in full and upfront for a level of service which we have not received, and fully intend to take this matter up with a higher authority such as Trading Standards or whatever body may be appropriate.
best wishes
Andrew
Friday, September 12, 2008
Concealed weapons
This sign is on the door of my local post office. Presumably unconcealed weapons are perfectly fine...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Fashion tips
Try as I might, I simply cannot deal with the concept of overweight 75 year old women in shorts.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Space
Oklahoma City is the 31st largest city in the US in terms of population, but it is the 7th largest in terms of land area (according to Wikipedia anyway). So the population density is very low, and it is even more 'spread out' than most American cities. Basically, there is a lot of space here, and this is reflected in the most trivial ways. For example, I've noticed that cars tend to leave a lot of space when waiting at intersections, typically a full car length between one car and the next. And people waiting in supermarket checkout queues leave a lot of space between themselves and the person in front. People leave a lot of space here because there is a lot of space available to leave.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday trading
When I asked the salesman at the car dealership in Denison, Texas (who, incidentally and rather gratfiyingly, was called James Bond) whether they were open on Sundays, he replied with a rather pointed tone of voice: 'No, we go to church on Sundays'.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
House
This is a picture of our house. It is about twice the size of our old house in the UK, but cost about a third of the price!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Driving test
To take a driving test in Oklahoma, you have to arrive at the test centre at 6.30am, queue up (sorry, 'wait in line') for about 2 hours to be given a slot, then return later in the day to take your test. If you're too late to get a slot, you have to come back the next day. Why, in what is supposedly one of the most advanced countries in the world, can't you just phone (sorry, 'call') for an appointment?
Friday, September 5, 2008
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